Oil prices jumped to $44 per barrel today, which has finally seen a wrap on a turbulent year of ups-and-downs for the oil industry, including the prices that consumers see at the pump, including the industry giving up four years of solid monetary gains in just five months.

The global economy isn’t helping matters.

Gasoline prices have been slashed (in some places) by over 50%, but these drops aren’t expected to last. In fact, gasoline prices have been rising steadily for the past few weeks, finally topping out at a nationwide average of $1.61. While still not as cataclysmic as $4.00 per gallon, the rise in prices is putting many people off as many consumers expected the drop in oil prices to remain somewhat steady.

However, the relief in our wallets at the pump was spurred by the credit crisis that hit during the early summer of 2008; in early December, the price for a barrel of crude oil went for a staggering $33.87, the lowest price in five years. Analysts are saying that the drop in fuel prices are stimulating the economy somewhat, which is something we could really use at the moment.

Another reason why prices have dropped is that surplus has finally outstripped demand, marking the first time that has happened in…well, in quite some time, to say the least. Buyers are having a hard time finding places to store all the oil, and some went so far as to put drums of it in their grandmother’s coat closet (strictly metaphorical, of course).

Needless to say, this huge drop in oil prices are spelling trouble for the oil industry, but consumers couldn’t be happier. Now your can drive your car to work, instead of jogging, and trust us – your co-workers will thank you for it.

In a shockingly unpredicatable move by Chrysler LLC, the company decided to be frugal for once and cut the reward metting for its top dealerships across the country. The meeting was to include an all-expense-paid trip to Hilton Los Cabos Beach & Golf Resort in San Jose del Cabo, Mexico, from March 15 through March 1, or so says the company, and it is a rewards package they offer every year – except this one.

Last year’s reward meeting was held at the Ritz-Carlton in Naples, Florida.

“You know what, we’ll have other opportunities — hopefully in a much better time to enjoy ourselves,” says Dave Kelleher, who owns two dealerships in the Philadelphia area. He went to the two previous meetings, and said that if they were able to, he would go to this year’s as well. However, he agrees with the company’s decision to hold off on the meeting this year in lieu of the financial crisis.

The cancellation comes as Chrysler is attempting to navigate the worst sales environment in 26 years. Kelleher says that his dealerships have been hit hard by the recent slump in the market as well as the huge drop in sales, and that “it’s a good year not to do this.”

For once, Chrysler might have done something right.

Shares in Ford Motor Company fell another 6% (down to $2.16, a drop of 13 cents) after billionaire investor Kerk Kerkorian sold the rest of his stock in the company. Kerkorian’s firm, Tracinda, announced Monday that they no longer were the owners of any Ford stock whatsoever; this comes just 20 months after Kerkorian bought over 100 million shares in the company last April, and despite the fact that Kerkorian was willing to help the ailing auto maker out by providing more capital for the company, to “aid Ford’s financial flexability.”

The news of the sell-off comes amidst reports that GMAC, the financial arm of General Motors, was close to securing a deal with bondholders that would restructure their debt, which is a move that is required to secure the unit’s new status as a bank holding company. However, the company has refused to discuss the state of the restructuring and the details therein, but GM stock fell another 7%, finally closing at $3.41.

It’s amazing that Ford was able to keep Kerkorian for as long as they did, and were fools when they didn’t follow the plan that Kerkorian setup to help the company out of its finanacial crisis. However, the blame cannot be laid on the automaker solely – oh, wait, yes it can. Ford has had a habit of building cars that the American people want to drive, and are then surprised when they don’t sell well. Here’s an idea: hire someone from Toyota, because they’re wailing on this ailing company.

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In a surprisingly candid statement, Toyota Motor Corporation spokesman Hideaki Homma said that, should the US auto industry collapse, that would spell disaster for them as well. “The conditions for the US auto market are extremely tough right now, and any additional negative is sure to make things worse.” One of the biggest reasons for the worry, sources say, is that Japanese and American auto makers share many of the same parts suppliers, and should the American auto industry collapse, the parts suppliers would fail as well, which would in turn cause a chain reaction that could wreak havoc in America, a sector that is vital to the Japanese auto industry as well as the United States’.

Another reason that Japanese auto makers are worrying is the fact that, should the US auto industry collapse, millions of jobs would be lost and consumer spending would be sharply curbed, resulting in fewer people spending money – and fewer people buying Japanese cars. Combined, all three American auto makers (Ford, GM and Chrysler) employ 239,000 workers, and millions more are tied into the fate of those auto makers. Economists estimate that 2.5 million people would lose their jobs, should the Big Three go under.

“Whether it is the impact on consumer confidence or the impact on the suppliers that we all share, having one or more of the major automakers in severe distress has consequences for the entire industry,” said Simon Sproule, corporate vice president of global communications at Nissan Motor Co., Japan’s third-biggest carmaker.

The only way that Japanese auto makers could turn this to their advantage would be much further into the future – decades later – when competition would be scarce and the economy has rebounded from the incredible recession the fall of those companies would mean. The advantage would only grow if Toyota and other Japanese auto makers focused on hybrid technology and clear fuel sources. But even if there would be an advantage later, that still doesn’t solve the problem now. In November, when American auto sales dropped 37 percent to their worst levels in 26 years, Toyota’s sales dropped 34 percent, Nissan’s were down 42 percent and Honda Motor Co.’s fell 32 percent.